“We’ll do Zoom around the room,” Mr. Geisler said. “Everyone can show their big kick.”
Those in an apartment kick the air rather than a soccer ball. Still, counselors try to keep energy high.
“We’ll say: ‘OK, everybody, we’re going to unmute for two minutes. Let’s hear your scream,’” Mr. Geisler said. “And we Zoom around the room and hear from everybody.”
For more money, people can hire a private camp counselor, so Super Soccer Stars is also hosting socially distanced micro-camps in backyards for around $500 a week for one camper (more if there are more campers). The option started in the Hamptons. It has expanded to Los Angeles, Washington, parts of Massachusetts, San Diego and San Francisco. The day the option was announced, Mr. Geisler said, 500 private groups made requests.
For children without a soccer ball, Super Soccer Stars coaches are trained to teach how to make one out of T-shirts and rubber bands.
One of the parents trying to balance sports camp from an apartment is Stacy Igel, who has a 5-year-old son in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Ms. Igel, founder and creative director of the fashion line Boy Meets Girl, said her living room — which had already become a multipurpose area — was now also a soccer field. She moved the sofa to fit a net and positioned an iPad on a cardboard box so her son could see the instructor while kicking a ball around.
“The first time, he was spooked,” Ms. Igel said. “As a 5-year-old, he wasn’t on devices that much.”
As the weather warmed, they have been able to go outside. Ms. Igel props the iPad on the lawn. She has started paying for one-on-one lessons once a week, which are legal in the city so long as the instructor keeps distance and wears a mask.
“Just to have that personal contact with a real human is amazing,” Ms. Igel said. “After so many months of him being alone, I almost cried.”
